Achnaba
Burial Cairn(S) (Bronze Age)
Site Name Achnaba
Classification Burial Cairn(S) (Bronze Age)
Canmore ID 23236
Site Number NM93NW 21
NGR NM 94455 36158
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/23236
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Ardchattan And Muckairn (Argyll And Bute)
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Argyll
NM93NW 21 944 363.
(A: NM 9409 3630) Cairn (NR).
(B: NM 9428 3631) Cairn (NR).
(C: NM 9459 3639) Cairn (NR).
(D: NM 9453 3626) Cairn (NR).
(E: NM 9445 3616) Cairn (NR).
(Undated) OS annotations.
Cairn A : As described.
Cairn B : measures about 13 metres in diameter and 0.9 metres in height, with kerbing visible for most of its circumference. It has a high earth content.
Cairn C : As described.
Cairn D : There seems to be a large amount of cairn material beneath the stones dumped on it. It measures 32 by 20 metres and is 0.7 metres high. Cairn E : A much-robbed circular cairn 24 metres in diameter placed slightly north of centre on a raised platform of stone, now much disturbed, but measuring about 40 metres in diameter and 0.4 metres in height. In the NW, a section of the platform has been completely removed. It bears a strong resemblance to Carn Ban (NM93NW 1), although there is no evidence of its being chambered.
Cairns surveyed at 1:2500 scale.
Visited by OS (DWR) 26 October 1971.
There are five cairns situated to the south and south-west of Achnaba farmhouse.
Cairn A stands on a low, natural rise at the west edge of an arable field. It is grass-grown and measures 18.6m in diameter and has a maximum height of 2.4m. A quarry has been driven into the centre from the east.
Cairn B is adjacent to the north edge of the approach road to Achnaba farm. It is a grass-grown stony mound with a single tree growing on it, and it measures 15.3m in diameter and 1.7m in height. Fifteen original kerbstones are still visible, nine of them forming an almost unbroken arc on the west perimeter of the cairn.
Cairn C stands by the east side of the approach road to Achnaba farm and is less than 100m from the farmhouse itself. It now measures 15 metres in diameter and 0.9m in height. The cairn has been severely robbed of its stones and subsequently used as a dump for field clearance.
Cairn D stands in an arable field south of the approach road to Achnaba farm. Largely grass-grown, trimming by the plough has reduced it to a squarish shape measuring 22.5 by 21 metres and it stands to a height of 1.8 metres. An electricity pole has been erected on it.
Cairn E stands in trees on the edge of the bluff over-looking Loch Etive. It has been so seriously damaged by robbing and subsequent dumping that, without excavation, it is impossible to determine its size. It probably measured about 23 metres in diameter and 2 metres in height originally.
RCAHMS 1975.
Field Visit (April 1967)
The following five cairns are all situated within 500 m of Achnaba farmhouse (RCAHMS 1975, No. 303) at heights between about 20 m and 30 m OD.
(1) Situated 90 m SE of the farmhouse, this cairn stands by the E side of the approach road at 946364. It has been severely robbed and subsequently used as a dump for field clearance, and now measures 15m in diameter and 0.9 m in height. A number of large boulders are lying scattered over the surface of the cairn but none of them are in their original positions.
(2) A second cairn is situated 135 m SSW of (1) in an arable field S of the approach road at 945362. Largely grass-grown, it has been trimmed by the plough to a squarish shape and now measures 22.5 m by 21m and 1·8 m in height. An electricity-pole has been erected on it.
(3) A third cairn, 170 m SSW of (2), stands in trees at 944361 on the edge of the bluff overlooking Loch Etive. It has been so severely damaged by robbing and later dumping that without excavation it is no longer possible to determine its size; it seems likely, however, that it originally measured at least 23 m in diameter and 2 min height.
(4) A fourth cairn, 230 m NW of (3), is situated at 942363, beside the N edge of the approach road and 135 m ENE of the spot where the cist No. 81 was discovered. A prominent grass-grown stony mound with a lone tree growing on it, it measures 15.3 m in diameter and 1.7 min height. Fifteen original kerb-stones are still visible in situ, nine of them forming an almost unbroken arc on the W perimeter of the cairn.
(5) A fifth cairn (940363) stands 185 m W of (4) on a low natural rise at the Wedge of an arable field. Now largely grass-grown, it measures 18·6 m in diameter and 2.4 m in greatest height. A quarry has been driven into the centre from the E.
RCAHMS 1975, visited April 1967.
